"Fire News in the NW and Beyond"

#AlbertaFires Forever Change Landscapes – June 1, 2016

About one month ago, residents from various locations including the most notable #FortMcMurray, an urban service area or in the U.S. would be similar to a suburban community of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada.

It is also located in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands and surrounded by the boreal forest. This location has played a large role in the national petroleum industry and now it’s landscape is now forever changed.

Photo Courtesy: Creative Common Content

Residents Voluntarily Return

On June 1st, residents began to voluntarily return to their communities, except for the Abasand, Beacon Hill and Waterways neighborhoods.

The re-entry program is being administered by the RMWB with the assistance of RCMP. The Province is stating this will continue until June 25, 2016.

“This community may look and feel very different than the community residents left last month. But it is still a strong community, and progress is being made every day to make it stronger.” – Premier Rachel Notley

Fire Status

There are 13 Fires including the out-of-control #FortMacFire covering 581,695 hectares or 1.437 Millions acres. This also includes area scorched in the Saskatchewan areas.

A new fire perimeter has been set up to 984 km or as 380 square miles. Extreme fire conditions continue to remain for some areas of the #FortMacFire.

Approximately 400 km or almost 390 miles of fire guard as being completed.

Photo Credit: RMWB

Resources

Almost 3,000 Firefighters are assigned to this incident along with support staff. 99 helicopters and 287 pieces of heavy equipment are also assisting.